Root of Madness
by we'll-fade-away
Summary: I could feel the blood running down my chin, dripping off my lips, as I sprinted away from my victim. But the thirst in my throat was quenched. Now, I just had to find my Edward...


_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, nor do I wish I did. However, I own this idea and the title._

_Author's Note: This idea came to me when my friends and I were talking about a movie yesterday. We thought of the alternate ending to Twilight, and this is the result.  
_

. . .

_.~.Root_of_Madness.~._

_ -sombrita_

. . .

Snowflakes fell through the thin air, small specks of white spiraling downwards. I held my head back and stuck out my tongue like a child. Of course, the water did nothing for me, didn't quench my thirst. The only thing that could quench my thirst was blood.

Today I wasn't as thirsty as other days, that burning feeling in my throat not flared up like a fire like it sometimes was. Quite possibly I would go hunting with my Edward and Renesmee tomorrow, but today I was going to relax. Today I was going to dance like a graceful bird in the snow and relax.

"Mommy!" piped a high, sure voice. I turned around to see my daughter, Renesmee, running full-speed toward me. To a human, she would be nothing but a pale blur. "Mommy! Daddy says we're having visitors!"

Picking her up and swinging her around in a circle, I asked, "Who is, Nessie?"

"They're coming from Alaska!" she beamed. "The Denali clan!" I blinked rapidly and set her down in the snow, but she put her small hand on my cheek and knew what my troubles were. "Daddy wouldn't leave you for her!" Renesmee assured me as I twisted away from her hand. "Daddy loves you, Mommy."

I gave her a hug and said, "I know, I know. Mommy's just being silly." I smiled my most encouraging smile and continued, "Why don't you go play inside for a little bit and send Daddy out here so I can talk to him?"

After a minute of waiting, my diamond Adonis was at my side, holding me close. "What's the matter, love?" he asked tenderly.

"The Denali clan is visiting?" I demanded, my voice an octave higher than it ought to be. "Why?" I tried to fix a glare on my face, but glaring at Edward was so tough, so painfully hard to do. He was so beautiful, it was as if my anger was melting away…but the less anger there was, the more another feeling made itself prominent. But I couldn't admit to being possessed by the green-eyed monster.

"Yes, Tanya thought it would be a good idea," replied Edward smoothly. "She wanted to see our house…she's a family friend, you know, Bella, and you _must_ start acting like it."

"I know," I said. "It's just…you two…and I…." I let my words trail away before I messed everything up.

Edward smiled my favorite crooked smile. "Didn't I tell you?" he chuckled. "I prefer brunettes, love." At this, I smiled back, and Edward slung one arm gracefully around my shoulder. Leading me inside, he said, "They'll be here tomorrow, Bella, and remember, be on your best behavior." I nodded as the door closed silently behind me.

. . .

To put it simply, the Denali clan looked like a bunch of snowmen. I laughed inwardly at their slight demise, but easily they shook the snow off of their glistening bodies, and Tanya was more beautiful than ever. "Oh," I muttered. "Hello."

"Hello, Edward," gushed Tanya, flipping her snow-damp hair over her shoulder, putting both of her petite hands on his marble chest. She glanced at me and added hastily, "Bella." Then she turned back to Edward and began to talk to him in a voice so rapid even _I _couldn't decipher it.

Renesmee hurried out of her room and greeted the Denali clan. "How adorable!" Tanya's sisters cried, hugging my daughter. Tanya, however, stayed silent, almost annoyed with the child.

Later, we all lounged around the living room, talking idly. I stared absently at Edward, who was on the other sofa, snuggled comfortably beside Tanya. She said, "Oh, Edward, you have some lint in your hair, let me get that!" and ran her fingers through his bronze locks. Why was Edward letting Tanya do this? Couldn't he tell that she was in love with him?

I said, "I'm going to go and get some air," and rushed outside into the snow, staring up at the stars and faintly glowing moon. How dark it had already gotten. I must have stood there for a long time, because after a while, I heard a whisper behind me, and I whirled around. Tanya's slim arm was hanging around Edward's shoulder, and he grinned at her, his hand on the small of her back.

"Hello, Bella," he called, waving with his free hand. I could feel as my insides froze to ice. "How nice to see you. Tanya and I were just going on a walk."

"I was about to go inside," I responded, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. He nodded gaily, Tanya's tinkling laugh sounding beside him, and they passed me, hurrying off into the night, so quickly and so far that I couldn't see them in just a few minutes. Instead of going inside as I had told them, however, I found myself shimmying up a tree, jumping precariously from limb to limb until I was a good thirty feet in the air.

After what I took to be a few hours, Tanya and Edward stumbled back into sight. The icy winter breeze blew right through me, tossing my dark hair back. It whistled in my ears, but I could hear every bit of Edward and Tanya's conversation perfectly.

"Why ever did you marry her, Edward?"

"I love her, Tanya, dear."

"No, Edward…you love _me_." Through the haze of wind-blown snowflakes, I made out Tanya leaning toward Edward, her pink lips puckered slightly. Then when she kissed him, and he kissed her back, I could feel something physically break in me. Surely, it was my heart. He wrapped his arms around her, and his lips lingered on hers for much longer than I had ever cared to see.

Then I heard the words that tore my broken heart into a million pieces. "You're right. I do love you."

"What? Repeat that?"

"I love you, Tanya."

I nearly fell from my perch on the icy tree. No, no, no…Edward loved _me_! Not Tanya! That was why he married _me_, was the father of _my _child, was _my_ husband! He couldn't love Tanya! This wasn't real!

The dull ache in my heart told me that Edward had seriously said that, however, and if I had been human, I knew I would have been sobbing. Even now, I was wracked with dry weeping. "Edward!" I whispered almost silently. "Edward, you love _me_!" But that was no longer true.

I watched them walk inside the cottage, and I scurried down my tree and began to run. In just a few minutes, I was back at Charlie's house, opening my old bedroom window and crawling through. The way Edward used to. I dove into my bed, which was the same as always, and snuggled beneath the covers, curling in a tight ball.

This was the first time I wished I could be human again. As a human, one has escapes from pain. More than one. As a vampire, one has no escape from pain. It is impossible to cry, impossible to move on...

Shoving my head beneath the pillow, I let out a quiet sound of desperation. Edward…didn't…love…me...

How I wished that I was able to fall asleep! But I couldn't. I felt absolutely restless, and besides, I was like Edward now. I couldn't sleep. I would have to spend every night watching another teenager sleeping in their own bed, listen to them mumble in their sleep, as Edward had done with me.

"_Didn't I tell you?" he chuckled. "I prefer brunettes, love."_ All those fake smiles and empty promises. All those gifts and nights spent together. For what? Edward didn't love me. We weren't soul mates. We were…nothing.

Eventually, the sun began to rise, and I heard Charlie waking up. I was sure that he wouldn't come to my room, not now that I was married and gone, so I lay there, swathed in the quilts that covered my bed. I was surprised to hear the door creak open. "Bells?" Charlie asked gently. "Oh, thank God, you're back!"

"What?" I demanded, shutting my eyes tightly. "Ch—Dad, what do you mean? I've been at—"

"You've been gone for days, Bella," said Charlie gruffly. He was eyeing me carefully, his eyes wide. "What the hell happened to you?! Why do you always do that? Why are you always gone? You need to let us—"

I squared my jaw. "I'm always gone because I'm with my hus—"

"I just want you to be okay again," whispered Charlie, putting a hand on my knee. "Bella, I want you to be okay again."

"I'm fine now!" I growled. "I'm fine!"

"I'll be right back," Charlie said comfortingly, giving me a reassuring pat on the knee. "Stay right there. It'll be fine, Bella." I stared at him for a moment. What was he talking about? I bit my lip in confusion. But as soon as he closed the wooden door behind him, I sprinted from the bed, momentarily tangled in the bedsheets, and threw myself out the window.

I landed hard on my knees, but it was okay—I couldn't get hurt now. I was in destructible.

Where to go? Where to escape to? Without thinking, I headed back in the direction of our little stone cottage. I burst into the clearing where it always stood but it wasn't there. All there were, were a few trees, bent downward as if suggesting a shelter. Large leaves served as a roof, and I could see pine needles inside of it, as if they were a carpet.

What was this? Where was my cottage? My family? _Is this some kind of sick joke?_ I wondered helplessly, collapsing to my knees. _Who could pull something like this? Edward never wou—Edward! Maybe the Cullens are at their house…._

On my feet again, the wind whipped my hair back and blew my shirt back so that it ballooned on my back. I could talk to Carlisle and Esme or Alice. Jasper at least could make me feel better, and Emmet would make me laugh somehow. Rosalie…wouldn't help much. But it was worth a try. And if Edward was there, or Renesmee, I would feel so much better, knowing where they were. Because the cottage was gone, and they definitely weren't _there_.

But the glass was not in view, the beautiful, old glass house of the Cullen's. Instead, in its place, was an enormous brick building, dark and foreboding, windows with curtains dotted consistently along its surface. "Wha—?" I gasped. There was a sign at the end of its paved driveway, near where I was standing.

**Forks Mental Hospital**

Choking on my own breath, I began to run again, away from the brick building. Back to town. Maybe Edward was in town. I would see Edward, and he'd explain what was going on. He'd tell me that this was all just a charade, a game played by my friends and family. A practical joke. Was today my birthday, or Christmas, or something? I didn't think so. But this had to be a joke!

I could feel the prominent burning in the back of my throat. I had wanted to go hunting yesterday, but the Denalis had interfered. And now I was so thirsty…

There weren't any deer in town. Not running through the streets as they ran through the forest all year long. But I had to feed. Goofing off down the road, I saw a familiar face. A baby-faced blond boy, with blue eyes. Like a puppy.

He looked up and his puppy eyes opened wide. "Bella!" he cried, his voice urgent. "Bella! Oh, my God, you're okay! Let me call some friends, okay? I'll call them, and you'll be okay again." He was walking toward me, a newspaper clutched in his right hand, his left hand pulling a cell phone from his jeans pocket.

"Who are you calling?" I snarled. "Is it Edward? Is it Charlie? Don't get Cha—"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Bella," soothed Mike. "It's fine. I'm just calling some friends." He waved his newspaper hand to wave the air dismissively. And I caught sight of the headline.

**MAD GIRL ESCAPES FROM LOCAL MENTAL HOSPITAL**

I couldn't help but notice the picture beneath it, either. A girl with straight, dark hair, hollow eyes, and pale-looking skin. She looked half-dead. She was loose in the town? What was her illness? Was she dangerous?

Gazing at Mike, I saw the blood flow to his cheeks, pink instead of pale in the chill weather. "Mike?" I said softly, and he looked sharply at me. I bit my lip. "I'm thirsty, Mike."

"The friends I'm calling can help you with that," Mike responded, his words quiet but rising steadily. His eyes took on a horrified blue stare, and he cried, "Bella, they'll help you with that!"

"No need," I whispered, lunging forward, sinking my teeth into the tender flesh of his neck. I heard him scream once, a beautiful, twisted sound, but then he was silent, and I was lapping up his wonderful blood, the wonderful fresh blood….

Police sirens wailed nearby, and I sucked as hard as I could, drawing out as much of Mike's blood as possible into my mouth, and then I dropped his limp body back into the snow. The newspaper that had been clutched in his hand reacted immediately the watery precipitation, the headline and picture blurring into gray.

I could feel the blood running down my chin, dripping off my lips, as I sprinted away from my victim. But the thirst in my throat was quenched.

Now, I just had to find my Edward….

The cry of the police sirens was louder now, closer. More threatening. The pounding of my heart, the rush of my blood, resounded in my eardrums, loud and horrible. I just had to get away, find my husband and get away.

People on the streets dodged out of my path, as if they feared me. Could they even see me? I should have been nearly invisible in the least, I was running so fast—for a human, anyhow. But the look of horror that was on each person's face was undeniable.

There were voices calling me, too, shrill and fearful and forceful. But I ignored them, kept running. I had to find Edward. Edward would help me…!

"Bella! Sweetheart!" I stopped running abruptly and turned around, and I saw Jacob, smiling softly. "Bells?" he said. "Are you all right?" He walked swiftly over to me, gave me a hug. "What're you running from?"

"I need to find Edward," I said, my voice urgent. "Can you go phase and see if Sam or Seth or Paul or someone knows where he is?" Jacob stared at me, his dark eyebrows knit together.

"Oh, please, don't start that again," he said quietly, holding my arms tightly. "Bella, please, don't start that again."

I stared back at him in confusion. "But…but I need to find Edward, and…please, Jake?"

"But Bella!" said Jacob, gripping my arms so tightly it hurt.

"Let go." I said harshly. "Ow, Jacob, let go!"

"Don't start that again! It doesn't exist!" said Jacob, his risen voice faltering slightly. "Edward isn't real, Bella! Vampires don't exist, okay? You don't have a child, and you're not a vampire, and—and I'm not a werewolf! I'm not a shapeshifter! I'm just a Quileute Indian!"

"No!" I cried. "What are you talking about Jake?!" Then I felt the other hands grabbing my shoulders, my arms. Jacob was yelling now.

"Don't start that again, Bella! I thought you were going to be okay, but you're not! I thought you were going to be okay, but you're just the root of madness."

Men in white coats were dragging me through the snow, roughly shoving me into a car. "Let go!" I screamed, kicking and fighting. I sank my teeth into one man's arm, sucking the blood from his wrist until he snatched it away. "Edward!" I screeched. "Edward! _EDWARD_!"

. . .

I caught a glimpse of a guard's newspaper yesterday. I only saw the headline and the picture of the girl that it was about. It read:

**MAD GIRL PUT BACK IN MENTAL HOSPITAL**

**KILLED ONE YOUTH**

The girl in the photo was the same one as in Mike's newspaper. She looked like a zombie.

Sitting in the small cot I was given here, in this dark place that they've put me, I gaze out the window. I have a nice view of the woods here, and it's really very pretty. Not far away, I can hear someone playing the piano. It sounds like they're playing a lullaby.

Then I hear my window slide open, and I look up to see a pale seventeen-year-old with golden eyes and a crooked smile. "Edward," I say, "you've come back."

"Of course, Bella," he replies, lying down next to me. I snuggle against his marble chest. "I love you. Of course I've come back."

I feel content, and I look back up at the window. From the angle I'm sitting at, I can see my reflection better than the forest view. And in the reflection, there's only me. Lying in an awkward position. I scramble into a sitting position, only to find that Edward isn't there.

As if to find reassurance, as if I'm looking to see if Edward is actually there, I look back up at the window reflection. I see a girl with pale skin, straight, dark brown hair, and hollow eyes. I look half-dead.


End file.
